Oil burner



June 14, 1932. w. L. MAJORS 1,352,691.

OIL BURNER Filed Feb. 4, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l //v v/e/vroe:

WALT/5,8 L. MAJOE,

June 14, 1932. w. L. MAJORS OIL BURNER Filed Feb. 4, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WALTEB p/vAJoes.

.' TOE/V Y6 June 14, 1932. w MAJORS 1,862,691

OIL BURNER Filed Feb. 4, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 minim Patented .lune 14, P332 OFFECE WALTER L. MAJORS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI OIL BURNER- Application filed February 4, 1928. Serial No. 251,889.

This invention relates to oil burners. Qne object of the inve tion is to provide an il burner c" mple design that can be operated success; li with various kinds of liq- ?iid fuel, and wl ch can be adjusted easily to change the direction or path of ravel of the flame or flames discharged from the burner.

Another object is to provide an oil burner in which the flame discharge portion of the burner is constructed in such a mam er that it can be easily ch aged or modified to produce a (.i 'en id of a inns or flames,

thereby enablin e various purposerninea of whichit duce a flame that is p? cularly an o. for the specific purpose for whicn the l)\.?1ll is used.

Another object 10 provide an oil burner that is equipp w h a novel means for sunplying steam to me oil being urned.

Another object to provide an oil burner that is economical in the consumption of fuel and of such constri tion that the flame pro duced in the. lmrner is substantially free of substances that produce carbon deposits, and

moreover, is of such a character that it can be discharged directly nto tine boiler or other apparatus which to b: mated, thereby over- 7 sin ing lire brick he combus )ll chamber of the boiler onte which the flame freni the burner is dischar 'ed, as is necessary with conventional oil burners.

And still another object or invention is to provide an oil burner which is of such design that a plu of units of similar construction can be ees y combined in the event dc ire; to prodiu-e a burner of larger city, Other objects and desirable feaof my invention will le hereinafter ...;d out.

. ure 1 of he drawi of an oil burner constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the burner shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, illustrating how a plurality of un ts can s is a top plan view be combined so as to form a large burner of great heating capacity.

Figure l is a transverse sectional View, taken on the line 4-i of Figure looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 5 is a front end view of the burner shown in Figures 1 and 2, showing the water reservoir in section and illustrating how the flame nozzles of the burner can be adjusted to change the direction or path of travel of the flames discharged from the burner.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view, illustrating a type of flame nozzle that can be used when the burner is employed to produce a flame that is used for welding, or similar commercial purposes.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional View, taken on the line 77 of Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view, corresponding with Fig. 3 except as to the flame discharge nozzles, illustrating a muffler type of flame nozzle that can be used when the burner is employed to heat a hot air furnace, or other apparatus which operates most eiiiciently when heated by a flame that spreads over a considerable area.

Referring to the drawings A designates a tubular member preferably of considerable length and relatively small cross sectional area compared with its length through which air circulates towards a frame discharge portion B located at one ens of said member. In the form of my invention herein shown a fan or blower C, operated by an electric Inotor D, is combined at the opposite end of the member A so to force a considerable volume of air through the member A from the flame discharge portion B. The member A can be supported in any preferred manner, as, for example, by a pedestal 100 and supporting leg 101. Oil in an unvaporized condition is discharged into the member A preferably at a point intermediate the ends of said member, by an oil discharge pipe E arranged longitudinally on the interior of the member A with its front end terminating in front of a t 'ansversely-disposed partition or air deflector 1 and with its rear end connected to an .oil supply pipe 2 equipped with a valve (not shown) that is adapted to be opened and closed in any suitable way, as, for example, by an electrically-operated device F of the kind now generally used in connection with oil burners for opening and closing the valve that controls the supply of oil to the burner. The deflector 1 is used to sustain the front end of the oil discharge pipe E and said deflector is herein illustrated as being formed by an annular member of considerably smaller diameter than the internal diameter of the member A, so that the top edge and side edges of said deflector will be spaced away from the interior of the member A, as shown in Figure l, and thus provide a space or passageway through which the air flows into the combustion chamber 00.

Extending longitudinally of the oil discharge pipe E, on the interior of same, is a gas delivery pipe G that is used to produce a pilot light in proximity to the point where the oil escapes from the pipe E into the combustion chamber, said gas delivery pipe G being connected at its rear end to a gas supply pipe 3, as shown in Figures 1 and i. The

v combustion chamber 00 is provided at its upper side with an ignition opening 4 through which a match or other means can be introduced, so as to ignite the gas used to form the pilot light, said opening 4 being normally closed by a removable cap 5. The pilot light ignites the fuel lying on the bottom of the combustion chamber :12, and the air which flows forwardly around the edges of the deflector 1 deflects the gases downwardly towards the bottom of the member A and supplies the necessary oxygen to support combustion. After the burner has been set in operation by igniting the gas and oil at the end of the pipe G, a steady flame will be produced in the combustion chamber 00 by the burning of the fuel which is admitted to said chamber through the pipe E, the current of air which circulates forwardly through the member A causing said flame to be projected 1 through the flame discharge portion B.

in the bottom of the combustion chamber a; is an oil discharge opening 6 that communicates with an oil return pipe 7, which is used to prevent oil from accumulating in the combustion chamber, as might occur if the control valve in. the oil supply pip were opened at a time when the pilot light is extinguished. The oil. return pipe 7 extends longitudinally of the member A, on the outer side of same, and connected to the rear end portion of said member A, shown in Figure 2. Adjacent the point where the rear end of the oil return pipe 7 enters the member A, is an oil outlet 7 that leads from the underside of the member A and discharges into an oil receptacle S which is connected by means of a chain 9. or in any other suitable way, to the oil c0ntrol valve in the oil supply pipe 2. In the event oil is admitted to the combustion chamber when the pilot light is extinguished and the blower at rest, said oil will escape through the return pipe 7 and enter the receptacle 8 and after a certain approximate quantity of oil has collected in said receptacle, said receptacle will move downwardly due to the force of gravity and thus close the oil control valve in the oil supply pipe.

The flame discharge portion B of the burner can be constructed in various ways without departing from the spiritof my invention. 1t is herein illustrabd as consisting of a tubular fitting screwed onto the front end of the tubular member A, or onto a nipple 10 that is joined to the front end of the member A by a connecting sleeve 10, and provided with a plurality of threaded openings which are adapted to receive nozzles or other devices through which the flame or flames are dis charged from the burner. This construction is particularly desirable, because the sleeve 10 tends to prevent the member A from becoming overheated, and moreover. as the interior of said sleeve is of greater diameter than the diameter of the parts which it joins together, it produces a pocket between the tubular member A and the nipple 10 which assists in breaking up the fuel. Usually, the fitting B will be provided at its front end with an internally-threaded portion that is adapted to receive a screw-threaded plug 11, or a screw-threaded portion of a straight nozzle, as hereinafter described. Said fitting B is also provided with a plurality of lateral openings that are internally threaded so as to receive nozzles H that serve as outlets for flames produced by the combustion of the air and fuel in the combustion chamber As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the nozzles H may consist of elbow-shaped members mounted on the fitting B in such a way that they can be turned in a direction to discharge the flames forwardly, or turned in a direction to discharge the flames upwardly, as shown in broken lines in Figure 5.

If it is desired to use the burner for welding or similar purposes, the nozzles H are removed and replaced by plugs 11 and the plug 11 in the front end of said fitting is removed and I'GPlHCG' l by a straight nozzle H as shown in Figure 6.

If the burner is to be used for operating a hot air furnace or for heating any other kind of an apparatus that operates most eflieiently when heated by a spreading flame, a single funnel shaped nozzle H provided with a deflector plate as indicated, can be arranged in one of the openings of the fitting B as shown in Figure 8 and the other opening may be closed by a plug. It may be noted that the perforations indicated in the deflector plate have a very substantial. muflling effect and tend to produce a quieter flan e without the loss of efficiency.

In order to cause generation of steam within the combustion zen I means is provided for supplying water to the burner so as to maintain pool of water 12 at the front end of the combustion chamber in proiiimity .to the flame outlets as shown in Fig. *3. lVhcn the burner is in opera tion, the heat that exists in the combustion chamberwill convert the water into steam, the presence of which in tl e combustion chamber has certain beneficial ell'ects upon the operation of the burner. I do not know esactly what reactions take place, but I believe that the steam is decomposed into its component parts thus supplying additional *gen to the burning fuel thereby inhibiting carbon deposits in the burner. The pool of water is retained in a cup or depression formed on the interior of the fitting B at the lower side of same, and said cup or depression is supplied with water in any conventional manner, for example by an inlet pipe 13 which is connected to the lower end of water reservoir I that is arranged in a water supply line 13a in such a manner as to maintain a practically constant .vater supply in the pool 12, as indicated by the dot and dash line in Figure 5.

One feature of my invention which I believe to be novel consists in constructing an oil burner in such a way that a plurality of units of similar design can be combined casily to produce a large burner or burner of great heating capacity. Figure 3 of the drawings illustrates this feature of my 1nvention. in the burner shown in said figure the reference character A designates the tubu- I to those shown in Figures 1 and 2 and des nated by corresponding reference charac lar member of a small burner of the hind shown in Figures 1 and 2, and previously described, said small burner comprising the tubular member A, which is open at both ends, an oil discharge pipe E inside of said member, which delivers oil at a point in front of a transversely-disposed bafll-e 1, and a. gas discharge pipe G positioned inside of the oil pipe E. The front end of the member A, instead of being connected to a fitting provided with flame discharge nozzles, 1s positloned in a hole in a partition or deflector 1" that is arranged in a. vertical position transversely of a tubular member A thatsurrounds the member A and which is provided at its front end with a flame discharge portion B having flame outlets or nozzles of similar design to those of the burner illustrated in Figure l, but of considerably larger size. Elements sin are provided for automatically carrying oil collects on tin-t interior of the meniber A, in the event the oil control valye op when no flame exists inside of the burner, and for maintaining a pool of water in proximity to the flame outlets of the burner. An oil discharge pipe E is arranged on the interior of the member A, so as to discharge oil into the combustion chamber a? at a pointin proximity to the opening in the deflector 1 through which the flame escapes from the front- .end of the member A. lVhen a plurality of units are combined, as shown in Figure 3, to produce a large size burner, it is preferable to arrange a spark plug 14 inside of the tubular member A of the first unit, so as to produce an electric spark that is used to ignite the gas supplied to said unit by the gas pipe G of same. The oil that is admitted to the member A and the air that circulates through said member A combine in the mixing chamber w of the member A to produce a combustible mixture which burns at the inner end of the member E and forms a flame that is discharged forwardly from the front end of the member A into the combustion chamber to in the member A. This flame ignites the oi that is introduced into the member A by the pipe E. Consequently, when the burner is in operation two separate and distinct flames are produced inside of the burner, both of which flames are projected forwardly toe wards the flame discharge portion at the front end of the member A. As shown in Figure 3, separate nanually-operable controlling valves 15 and 15 are arranged in the pipes 2 and 2 that supply oil to the discharge pipes E and E, so as to permit either one or both units of the burner to be used at the will of the operator in charge of the burner. W'hile T have herein illustrated the burner as being composed of only two units, it will, of course, be understood that any desired number of units can be combined in this way so as to produce a burner of the desired capacity.

hen a straight flame discharge nozzle H is used on the burner, as shown in Figure 6, it is preferable-to arrange one or more devices 16 in the path of the flame that is traveling towards theoutlet of the noZzle,so as to effectively tears-part any globules of oil suspended in said flame, said devices 16 preferably consist-- ing of metal pins that are arranged inside of the tubular member A, so as to form in effect a plurality of battles past which the flame travels in escaping to the flame outlet of the nozzle.

An oil burncrof the construction above doscribedc an be manufactured and sold at a low cost, as it is composed principally of tubular members and fittings of standard construction. that can beeasily assembled; it is of such construction that it can be quickly installed in operative posit-ion in a stove, furnace or other heat producing apparatus; it can be changed easily to adapt it to the particular apparatus with which it is used by substituting flame nozzles that produce flames best suited for said apparatus; it can be used for commercial purposes to produce a flame suitable for welding; it can be used. as an automobile touring accessory for producing a flame suitable for use in cooking food over a grill or grating; it can be operated successfully with practically any hindof liquid fuel,

even the refuse oil from the crank case of an internal combustion engine, and it is of such design that a plurality of units of similar con struction can be easily combined to produce a burner of large capacity in which the flame produced by one unit is used as a pilot light to ignite the oil that escapes from the discharge pipe of an adjacent unit. Moreover, such a burner is economical in the consumption of fuel and it produces a flame that is substan tially free of substances that produce carbon deposits, thereby making it practicable to discharge the flame produced by the burner directly onto the boiler or other apparatus that is to be heated, and overcoming the necessity of arranging fire brick or the like in the combustion chamber of the boiler onto which the flame from the burner discharges, as is necessary with conventional oil burners. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An oil burner composed of a plurality of units of similar design combined to form a plurality of tubular members arranged one within the other and each having associated with same a transversely-disposed air deflcctor, and an oil discharge pipe that discharges oil at a point in proximity to said air deflector, a flame outlet member at one end of the outer tubular member, and means for forcing air longitudinally through the tubular members of the various units.

2. An ()ll burner, comprising a tubular member having an'air inlet at one:end, a

flame discharge portion at the opposite end of said member, a partition within said member forming a combustion chamber with said flame discharge portion, means for supplying fuel to said combustion chamber and a-sleeve of greater diameter than said tubular member which joins said flame discharge portion to said member and also forms a pocket between said parts, for the purpose described.

3. An oil burner of the kind described in claim 2, provided with a pipe arranged on the under side of said tubular member and having one of its'ends communicating with said pocket and its other end communicating with a portion of said tubular member through which air flows.

4. An oil burner comprising a hollow tubular member through which a current of air is adapted to circulate longitudinally from end to end, a flame discharge portion at one end of said member, an air inlet at the other end of said member, a partition within said member intermediate the ends thereof, said partition being of less cross-sectional area than said member and forming with said flame discharge portion a combustion chamber Within said member, means for supplying liquid fuel to said combustion chamber, and a pipe outside said member connected to the lower portion thereof on opposite sides of said partition.

5. An oil burner comprising a hollow tubular member through which a current of air is adapted to circulate longitudinally from end to end, a flame discharge portion at one end of said member, an air inlet at the other end of said member, a partition within said member intermediate the ends thereof, said partition being of less cross-sectional area than said member and forming with said flame discharge portion a combustion chamber within saidmember, means for supplying liquid fuel to said combustion chamber, a pipe outside said member connected to the lower portion thereof on opposite sides of said partition, a liquid discharge outlet in the lower portion of said member on the side of said partition opposite the combustion chamber, and means actuated by the liquid discharged through said outlet for closing said fuel supply means.

6. An oil burner composed of a tubular member having one of its ends connected with the discharge side of a fan or blower, a flame discharge portion mounted on the opposite end of said member, an air deflector arranged transversely of said member and forming a combustion chamber with said flame discharge portion, an oil supply pipe disposed horizontally within said member and terminating in said combustion chamber adjacent said deflector, said flame discharge member being provided at its lower side wit-l1 a depression or pocket for holding a pool of water, a water reservoir connected by a pipe with said pocket for automatically replenishing the same with water, an oil return pipe arranged longitudinally of said tubular member on the underside of same and connected to the interior of said member at points in front of and at the rear of said air deflector.

7. An oil burner composed of a tubular member having one of its ends connected with the discharge side of a fan or blower, a flame discharge portion mounted on the opposite end of said member, a plurality of outlets in said flame discharge portion, an air deflector arranged transversely of said member and forming a combustion chamber with said flame discharge portion, an oil supply pipe disposed horizontally within said member and terminating in said combustion chamber adjacent said deflector, said outlets in the flame discharge portion comprising an axial outlet and a plurality of lateral outlets that are adapted to receive either nozzles or closure plugs.

WALTER L. MAJORS. 

